Puzzle Pieces
by Clockwork-Winchester
Summary: That's what they are, really. Pieces of the puzzle that shows the life of these characters, from the Marauders to the next generation and everything in between.
1. Happy Birthday

**A/N: Just a little story that came to me while I was studying for an exam. I picture Fred being about five or six-years-old in this. Hope you enjoy (and maybe give me a review? They really keep me motivated to write more!)**

**Of course, I don't own a single thing from Harry Potter.**

* * *

Fred doesn't understand why his father is sad on his birthday.

To Fred, birthdays are the best thing in the world, even better than Christmas. There is cake, presents, everyone goes around saying how much you've grown and how proud they are of you and… did he already mention cake? Every time on his birthday, Fred would wake up at the crack of dawn, run to his parents' bedroom and hop up on their bed, determined to wake them up. One time he had ended up falling off the mattress to the floor but he just bounced back up without caring if he had gotten hurt. In the end, it had the desirable result; his parents were up and he got to open his presents early. All in all, birthdays are amazing, and nobody should feel bad on day like that. But, apparently, his father has forgotten that.

Fred is determined to fix it this time. He has been preparing for this day for a while now, getting his mum to take him out until he found just the right present, picking the perfect card to go with it. He is sure he can make his dad's birthday a happy occasion, if he tries hard enough.

But today, it has all gone wrong. First Fred forgot to ask his mother to wake him up early, so by the time he woke up his dad was already awake and he had missed the opportunity to surprise him. When he didn't see him eating breakfast in the kitchen like every morning, he felt his excitement rise again, thinking his dad was still asleep and he had time after all. But his mum said his dad was awake, he just was still in his bedroom.

''And no, you can't go in,'' she says, before Fred even opens his mouth. ''Now sit down and eat your cereal.''

''But Mum,'' Fred whines, even though he knows it annoys his mother, ''I have to go. I have to give dad his present.''

''You'll give it to him later,'' she says without turning back from the oven.

''No!'' he insists, his voice getting louder, ''It has to be now. You don't get it-''

''Fred!'' Angelina cuts him off, her voice rising as well. ''I said, later. Now will you please eat your breakfast?''

Without another word, Fred gets up and stomps to his bedroom, making sure to slam the door shut. Wrong, this is all wrong. This isn't how the day was supposed to go.

Fred spends several minutes walking around the room, occasionally grabbing pillows from his bed and throwing them against the wall. His mother comes knocking at the door, but he doesn't open it, doesn't even talk to her. After a while she gives up and announces to the door that she's going out shopping and will be back soon. Fred doesn't bother responding.

He hears her footsteps as she walks away and after a couple of minutes the front door opens and closes. Fred resumes his throwing of the pillows until he freezes mid-action, a smile forming on his lips. Now's his chance!

Not wanting to waste any time, he lets the pillow fall down on the floor as he dashes to his desk, picks up the bag containing his father's present and is out of the room in seconds. In front of his father's door he pauses, but ultimately decides not to knock in case dad doesn't let him enter. If he's already in, he can't throw him out, right?

Fred opens the door slowly to reveal a mostly shadowed room, the curtains partially closed. His father is seated at the side of the large bed and doesn't seem to notice Fred at first.

''Dad?'' Fred says. George starts.

''Hey mate,'' he says in a low voice as he turns around, hastily wiping his eyes. Was he crying?

''What're you doing here?''

''I… I just wanted…'' Fred trails off, suddenly uncertain. He had been so determined to see his father, but now he feels his resolve wavering. What if his dad really wanted to be left alone? And if his mum comes back, she'll certainly be mad and what will he do then? Maybe this was a bad idea.

''Yes?'' George gently prods. His eyes fall to the package Fred clutches in his hands. ''Is that for me?''

Wordlessly, Fred nods.

''Let's see it, then. Come here,'' his father says, patting the mattress next to him.

Hesitantly, Fred walks towards his dad, climbing onto the mattress once he reaches the bed. It seems unusually difficult to lift the bag and hand it to his father.

George takes the bag but doesn't open it. Instead his directs his gaze to his son, lifting his face until he fully faces him. ''Are you okay, Freddie?''

Another nod.

''Fred?'' George insists. ''Will you tell me what's wrong?''

Sometimes, Fred swears, it's like his father can read his mind. And, suddenly, he feels he can't stay silent any longer, the words bursting out of him like a great, big wave.

''It's just, you always look so sad on your birthday and I wanted to make you happy and find the perfect present, but then I overslept and Mum wouldn't let me come in and see you, but I wanted to give you your present so you'd be happy so I yelled at her and Mum got mad and then she left, so I came here, but you haven't opened it and maybe it's awful and I just wanted you to be happy and…''

As his son keeps talking, George finds himself grinning suddenly, in spite of the day, in spite of the memories. Or maybe, because of them. After all, no matter what, Fred Weasley could always make him smile.


	2. Animagi

**A/N: In my previous account, this was included in my story called 'The Order of the Phoenix Reads the Deathly Hallows'. However, since that story and subsequently my account were deleted, I figured I'd post this here as a seperate story. I've added some things, but nothing major. Hope you enjoy. Reviews are always appreciated.**

**Of course I don't own a single thing from Harry Potter.**

* * *

''You decided to do _WHAT_?''

''No, say it louder Remus, I think a couple of people on the other side of the castle couldn't really hear you.''

Remus rolled his eyes at James but when he spoke again it was in less ear-splitting tones. ''Please tell me you're kidding.''

''We never kid, Remus,'' said Sirius.

''Except for when we do.''

''That was really deep, James.''

''Why, thank you, Sirius. But anyway, we're not actually kidding about this one,'' he told Remus.

''But you can't mean it,'' Remus protested. ''Do you have any idea what you'd be getting yourselves into?''

''We do as a matter of fact. We've done our research,'' Sirius replied.

''There's no need to look so surprised, Remus,'' James added.

''But… You… I mean…'' Remus seemed to be at a loss for words. ''Are you out of your minds?'' he asked finally.

''It's been said,'' said James shrugging, as if he was not at all bothered by the fact that there were people who believed he was crazy. ''But not about this,'' he continued firmly.

''What's Peter got to say about this?'' asked Remus, hoping for an ally.

''Ask him,'' Sirius replied. ''I don't think he'll be able to answer, though.''

''Why not?''

Instead of answering, Sirius indicated with his head the table closest to them, where Peter was currently sleeping on, soft snores escaping his mouth every now and then.

''… Should we tell him he's drooling all over his Transfiguration essay?''

''You pose an interesting question there, Sirius. On one hand we could be good friends, wake him up and save his hours of hard work. On the other hand, if he goes on like that, it'll be excellent teasing material for tomorrow. Decisions, decisions.''

''You know that if he fails to turn in his essay tomorrow, McGonagall's going to assume we're to blame as well,'' said Remus.

James and Sirius merely shrugged. ''So she'll give us detention. Hardly worth worrying about,'' James said unperturbed. ''You'd think by now she'd have gotten tired of doing it.''

''But James, we haven't been in Minnie's office for quite some time. It will be a wonderful opportunity to revisit it.'' said Sirius with way more excitement than anyone talking about their professor's office should feel.

''Ooh and maybe nick some stuff, like we did last time,'' James agreed enthusiastically.

''Could you be serious for just one second?'' Remus asked exasperated.

''Certainly.'' James removed his glasses, tried unsuccessfully to flatten his messy hair, mimicked the way Sirius was sitting on the couch and assumed a weird expression, which he apparently thought was Sirius-like.

''Oh please, as if you could ever manage to be like me,'' said Sirius airily. ''Do you hear something?''

''Remus is banging his head on the table.''

''Oh… We should stop him. He's going to wake up Peter!''

Remus lifted his head from the table and looked at his friends with a long-suffering expression.

''Okay look, all kidding aside, we really want to do this,'' James told him.

''Do you understand how important a decision like this is?'' said Remus. ''We're not talking about what to eat at dinner or what new prank to play on the unsuspecting student population. Becoming animagi is difficult, it's dangerous!''

''We know. Contrary to popular belief, we do pay attention to class sometimes and we've heard McGonagall talking about it. Plus, like I said, we've done our research. We know exactly what to do and the risk we're taking.'' Sirius told him confidently.

''But why would you decide to do something like that? Isn't it enough that one of us turns into an animal once a month, why… '' he trailed off as realization dawned on him. No. They wouldn't do that. Not for him. Even they wouldn't be so stupid. _Or such good friends_, a voice whispered in his head. ''Would you really do that?'' he asked, amazement warring with disbelief inside him. ''For me?''

''Okay, I don't know what you think you've figured out there, wolf boy, but this is not about you. Can you imagine how cool it would be if we could turn into animals at will?'' said Sirius, but he was grinning widely and James's eyes were full of warmth and understanding.

Remus found himself at a loss for words. Before he came to Hogwarts he didn't really have any friends, his 'condition' making him believe it was not safe for other people to be around him. When he got to the castle he had resolved to focus on his studies and show Dumbledore he had not been mistaken in accepting him into the school. Making friends had never been a priority for him; or even an option. He figured if he avoided his classmates, they would do the same. But it was all shot to hell when he met those crazy kids who wouldn't take no for an answer, who insisted on dragging him along wherever they were going, who constantly showed up whenever he was attempting to study with a new prank idea he ''just couldn't miss'', who kept trying until he gave in, until he decided to throw caution to the wind and become their friend. And they had made sure he didn't regret it. Even finding out about his 'furry little problem' hadn't fazed them. And now here they were, his friends willing to break the law, risk their lives, all to make sure he wouldn't be alone whenever he turned into a murderous creature, make sure he would be safe. They didn't have to say it. They knew he understood it, just like he knew they understood why he couldn't utter a single word right now. And that, that was the best feeling of all.

''Just so you know, if you end up turning into a fly or a seal, don't say I didn't warn you,'' he said some time later, after they had woken Peter up, helped fix the damage that had been done to his essay and gone up to their dormitory.

''You have a very weird imagination, Remus,'' Sirius said, shaking his head. ''And that's coming from me. Now shut up and go to sleep.''

Remus threw his pillow at Sirius's direction, but regretted it immediately after he realized how uncomfortable trying to sleep without a pillow was.


End file.
